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KMPDC defines professional misconduct as behaviour by a medical or dental practitioner that violates medical ethics, professional standards, or patient safety.

IT IS ANOTHER CUSTOMER WEEK On 16th September 2025, the readers of The Guradian were shocked to learn that the United Kingdom Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) had made a ruling that “a doctor who left a patient midway through an operation to have sex with a nurse is at very low risk of repeating his serious misconduct” The Guardian, Mon 15 Sep 2025 19.44 BSTLast modified on Tue 16 Sep 2025 04.37 BST. According to the print media, “Dr Suhail Anjum, 44, and the unnamed nurse were caught in a “compromising position” by a colleague who walked in on the pair at Tameside hospital. The consultant anaesthetist had asked another nursing colleague to monitor the male patient, who was under general anaesthetic, so he could go to the bathroom.”

In the Kenyan set up how would such a case be handled? The Kenya Medical Practitioners & Dentists Council (KMPDC) is the regulatory body in Kenya for medical and dental practitioners. It handles complaints of professional misconduct including medical negligence, patient abandonment and failure to give care, etc. Its Disciplinary & Ethics Committee is empowered to conduct inquiries into such complaints. It can admonish, suspend, or take other disciplinary action. KMPDC defines professional misconduct as behaviour by a medical or dental practitioner that violates medical ethics, professional standards, or patient safety. Common categories include: Negligence, failing to attend to a patient under care, leaving a patient unattended during a procedure, failure to provide timely or appropriate treatment, breach of Ethics / Professional Boundaries, sexual relations with patients or staff within the clinical setting, harassment or inappropriate conduct in professional spaces, incompetence or recklessness, performing procedures without necessary skill or qualifications, practicing outside the scope of license, dishonesty or fraud, forging medical records, issuing false medical reports, or misrepresenting qualifications, substance abuse / impairment, practicing while intoxicated or impaired by drugs/alcohol, criminal Conduct, acts such as assault, theft, corruption, or other crimes that bring the profession into disrepute. According to Kenyan Standards (based on KMPDC practice, Serious Misconduct includes such acts as leaving a patient under anaesthetic and shifting to engage in conduct unrelated to medical care, especially sexual activity. This would almost certainly be classified as gross / serious misconduct. It involves abandoning duty of care, violation of medical ethics, putting a patient at risk (even if no harm resulted), and possibly breach of trust. A complaint would be filed, then the Disciplinary & Ethics Committee would investigate, possibly hold a hearing. The doctor would have rights to respond. Evidence would be gathered. KMPDC would enforce sanctions such as admonishment, suspension, revocation of license, or other sanctions depending on how severe, whether there was harm, whether it was a one-off or patterned behaviour, the doctor’s attitude and remorse, etc. The disciplinary body may consider whether the doctor is likely to repeat such misconduct—this depends on factors like previous disciplinary history, expressions / proof of remorse, corrective action, risk mitigation, etc. If found “low risk,” that might reduce severity of punishment, but not likely eliminate sanctions given the seriousness. Public Confidence Consideration even if the risk of repetition is judged low, affects trustworthiness of the medical profession; sometimes public confidence demands stronger sanctions than those needed strictly for risk. It is therefore clear that KMPDC would be more stringent on a case as listed above especially based on trustworthiness of a medical professional The likely Sanctions include; reprimand, a formal warning and corrective action, paying fines or compensating a harmed patient, restrictions such as supervision, mandatory training, suspension of license, temporary removal from practice until the doctor meets conditions for reinstatement. Deregistration and in some most serious cases permanent removal from the register of practitioners may also be enforced. Dr. Catherine Syengo Mutisya (MBChB,Mmed) is a Consultant Psychiatrist with over 25 years of medical practice experience

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THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP by Dr. Catherine Syengo Mutisya

Many of us will struggle with inadequate sleep at some part of their life but because the problem doesn’t affect their daily functioning, they may not get to consult a doctor or a therapist or seek treatment for the problem. insomnia (inadequate sleep) in adults with symptoms lasting for 3 or more nights per week for a prolonged period and whose daytime functioning is considerably affected should be treated. Such treatment can range from talk therapy(psychotherapy) or medication or a combination of both. Insomnia is a sleep disorder which consists of inability to fall asleep or stay asleep or getting up early in the morning for a prolonged life. It is indeed a very common disorder, that affects up to about 6-40 percent of the population. Insomnia (inadequate sleep) can affect the quality of life just like disorders like depression and heart failure and so it shouldn’t be left unattended. Untreated insomnia also leads to or worsens other mental disorders and also impacts physical health like increasing predisposition to accidents and increasing appetite Inadequate sleep(insomnia) should be thoroughly investigated. Issues like the duration and frequency of the sleep, schedule for bed time, time taken to get asleep, awakenings, rise time, sleep environment, triggers in form of stress, shift work etc, behaviours during Sleep, past medical history and past treatment history should be assessed. Medication like caffeine can last up to 6hrs and so history of coffee use and use of other caffeinated products should be clarified. Nicotine also impacts sleep and so that history should also be investigated. Physical Sleep disorders like apnoea and obstruction should be ruled out by ideally a specialists in Ear Nose and Throat (E.N.T.) specialists. Ideally the first option for treatment of Insomnia is psychotherapy and specifically cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia. Some treatment guidelines recommend that cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) be the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia, offered either face-to-face or via digital platforms. For adults where CBT-I is unsuitable or ineffective, they recommend medication treatment for long-term chronic insomnia, provided that the use of medication is only for the shortest possible duration and reassessed within three months. CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia) is a proven and recommended treatment for insomnia. It uses different methods, like learning about sleep, changing habits, and changing thoughts. CBT-I works well for people with or without other health problems and so it would be good for the person who has insomnia to be assessed by qualified professionals. If someone suspects that they have insomnia they should seek assessment by the nearest medical provider, or the nearest counsellor. We should know that untreated insomnia can result in both physical and psychological complications, can complicate existing medical conditions and Insomnia can also be the pointer that there is indeed another medical condition It is therefore wrong to buy over the counter medication for treatment of insomnia or use substances like alcohol or other substances of abuse to manage insomnia. It is also important for counsellors and other front-line workers to refer cases of insomnia which are not improving for further investigations by the relent specialists. Use of “herbal” products has become rampant yet it is difficult to know what is contained in those herbs. Use of such products without professional involvement is therefore strongly discouraged. The writer is a mental health advocate with 25 years of medical practice experience